The end of the line.

Sunday, September 09, 2012

The most important thing is to change your mindset. This is not a diet....this is a lifestyle change and a lifestyle change takes time.

Start slow....count your calories. When you have mastered the art of counting calories (use Spark People nutritional tracker) you will begin to notice that what you put on your plate can be substituted with a healthier option and will make you feel fuller for longer periods of time. Think of food as fuel for your body....when you sit down to eat...remember that tomorrow you will eat as well so there is no need to over eat. Try a variety of different foods in smaller portions and follow the rule of 75% fruits and veggies on your plate. Once you have this down, you will notice small things that will change your perspective about food. 12 chips = 150 calories........1 large bowl of salad with fat free ranch and a chicken breast equals 150 calories.....the salad and chicken breast will keep you full longer. Remember that losing weight is 90% about eating healthy and 10% exercise!

Did you know that you don't even have to exercise to lose weight if you master the healthy eating? I do highly recommend exercise but for this reason only. Exercise tones your body so that when you lose weight you look awesome. You build muscle and muscle burns fat while you sit! Start slow and find something you enjoy! I highly recommend Zumba. It's really fun and at first can be a little intimidating but once you get the hang of the moves....it's so fun you don't even know your exercising. You can search online for free Zumba videos, order the DVD's or go to a public class. I have the Xbox 360 game that I use and love it. Once you lose about 10 pounds, you will feel so much better and want to exercise!

Motivation.....oh how I wish I could tell you it is easy but it just isn't. It's easy to exercise but it's hard to get motivated to exercise! I have to babysit my motivation the minute I wake up....sometimes I workout right when I awake and sometimes it takes me all day long and at 9 pm I am working out. Oh, most days I don't want to workout but I have several methods to try and keep me motivated and constantly switch it around. One way is I turn Pandora (music) up really loud and let the music motivate me. Another is I just start running in place.....it takes me 5 minutes and I am ready to go...I usually work out on my stationary bike when I do this. Zumba is my biggest motivator...I turn it on and just start dancing! This is how I stay motivated day by day. When all else fails and I m down in the dumps I check out peoples blogs on Spark People. Other people losing weight motivates me.....if they can do it....then so can I!

Week by week (long term) is a whole other issue. I use my own pictures as a visual motivator. Every Thursday I take a photo of myself, front and side and post it to Spark People. This is my weekly motivator and I know that each day I am working to lose weight for that weeks picture! It keeps me accountable! It has worked very well for me and I have never missed a picture! Even if I don't lose...I can see progress and changes in my body which gives me that extra motivation I need for the next week. Also, it allows me to see which parts of my body I need to focus on with my strength training!

Slow and steady wins the race. Don't look straight up at that mountain.....look at the first step you need to get to closer to the top. 5 pounds....10...15....20...before you know it....you have climbed that mountain and it was easy because you were not on a diet....you changed your eating habits and added a little activity to your schedule.

I hope this helps and if you ever have any questions, feel free to visit my page!

I'm in the same boat as you... Starting over the millionth time. I think the best way to do it is baby steps. One step at a time and we'll make it up that mountain. I'm starting over with the Spark Diet (which I actually skipped over every other time...) I didn't want to do the slow steps at the beginning. I wanted to give it 100% from the start. So for a week, I've been tracking my calories, not trying to stay in the range, just tracking it. Not making excuses or saying "I blew it, might as well go all out and not track it". Baby Step one: Be consistent in tracking. This week, I'm planning on trying to be consistent in exercising daily (be it cardio, strength or even stretching). The All or Nothing mentality is what has thrown me off track every other time. The smallest thing would lead to junk food and sitting around. If healthy eating and exercising aren't currently a part of your lifestyle, it's hard to fit them in. Nobody sits around during the day saying "wow, I really have too much time on my hands". So if you try to fit it all in at once, it's going to be harder to stick with it. To fit healthy habits in, you'll have to give up time you'd usually spend doing something else. It's easier if you only have to give up say 15 minutes to begin with (for example to track) than to give up say 2 hours to exercise, get healthy food, cook it and track it. Once that's a part of your daily routine, then it'll be easier to slip in another 15 minutes to exercise.My advice is to go back and read the Spark Diet overview. Choose a new goal and work toward THAT goal. If it's tracking and you've eaten the double of your calorie range, but tracked consistently, that IS success. Knowing that you have managed at least that, will help you realize that you can do it. Maybe you just can't do it all at once. And please, avoid the "Weight Loss pills" even Alli. You're young. Don't screw up your body. The whole point of them is to stop your body from working like it should. Bad idea. Check out some of the Success Sparkpages. Those people succeeded without gimmicks... which means we can too!

Good for you in starting again and identifying motivation as a key component. I have that issue too and found time is a critical factor for me. The Coach Nicole daily program was helpful when I tried the free week. Have you tried it yet? I chose 'motivation' as a point to work on, and it really helped. A schedule helps too, but start small. Baby steps and you won't get overwhelmed.. Give yourself a bonus for coming o the sight and doing the tracking every day.You can do it. Concentrate on your own goals and how you feel. Other people will always find things to criticize you about. You look beautiful!If you'd like a friend struggling with the same issue, you can add me.

First of all, hugs to you! I know exactly where you are. I really believe the key is becoming very aware and awake in your life. When you find yourself heading into the kitchen find out WHY you are eating. Bored, tired, lonely, stressed? if you are eating for any reason other than hunger, the only way weight loss is long term is realizing that so you can change. I would read the book called The Beck Diet. It gets to the reason we are over eating in the first place, so we can become aware and stop using food to feed emotions. Hang in there....you can do this.